Originally razors were knives with special handles. Cutting of the user was progressively diminished by various devices and combinations most based upon barring whole-blade contact with the user's skin. Razors became smaller, and somewhat less awkward. Thus, various "guards" were developed on the "rake" principal, culminating in the well-known small safety razor with slotted guard bar. Also, smooth bars extending the length of the blade edge were tried, spaced from the blade an interval great enough to allow hair entry to the blade, much like a carpenter's plane in operation. All types of razors had drawbacks of safety or clumsyness, and recent attempts to solve these problems have centered about simple ways to make discontinuous the cutting edge of the blade itself, instead of using rakes or bars removed from the blade edge, as in the "planning" concept. One such attempt wraps the blade in fine wire. Another uses holed adhesive foil. These, among others, approach the solution to pre-surgical and other medical needs of a special nature, but fall short of accomplishment. Exemplifying the area of the invention are the following United States Letters Patent:
______________________________________ Patent No. Inventor Date of Issue ______________________________________ 1,028,461 Helyn 1910 1,035,548 Dickenson 1912 1,579,577 Thompson 1926 1,823,808 Thompson 1931 1,846,622 Thompson 1932 3,263,330 Farrar 1966 3,505,734 Iten 1970 ______________________________________
However, all have failed to meet the strict requirements for such precise performance as desired in medical pre-operational preparation, such as scalp shaving, for instance, where a hidden pimple or growth may be cut into when using a conventional "T" handle razor, both because such a razor blocks vision of hair area being shaved and because the razor is not responsive to fine manipulation however skillful the user. In shaving tender or infected skin, including burned and broken bone areas, pain response or stimulation of nerve endings is intensified to a marked degree. Added sensitivity is encountered when fine hairs are engaged by the edges and other surfaces of conventional razors. Microscopic examination of shaving operations has shown that these fine hairs in a burn or other area may either be pinched, caught or displaced around the razor guard edges, particularly if the razor is moved obliquely, increasing patient discomfort.
The invention, therefore, has as an object the presentation of a razor affording scalpel-like control in shaving difficult areas of the head and torso, such as scalp, anal and pubic areas.
Another object of the invention is to provide a razor with a slender blade and safety guard for better visual control.
An important object of the invention is to provide a razor having a long, slender handle increasing in girth away from the blade to be rotatable with the thumb and index finger to give dexterous control in pinpoint areas of the nostril, the ear cavity and pubic areas in the same degree a surgeon can control a scalpel.